Frank_NJ

New Fuel Rules Favor Detroit Automakers

I Agree 100% with you Marketwatcher. The rest of the automotive producing countries partner with their automotive industries, except the US. So much for the free-trade myth..

Why Auto Stocks Are an Easy Short

I almost split my pants laughing when I read the following from Tony USA: "Oh by the way, California is really part of Asia"

But seriously, and in Tony's defense, some posters might attack Tony and mention that being loyal to ones country is unsustainable in today's free market economy and kind of a Luddite philosophy.

However, is that really true when Korea bans American car imports, Japan imposes heavy import taxes on foreigh cars being sold in Japan (plus, the Japanese by nature are very loyoal to Japanese companies over foreigh ones, even in the face of substandard quality), and China requires foreign car makers to partner 50% with Chinese companies. In other words, these countries practice the same thing Tony proposes, so we should as well. Their auto industries are prospering while ours is sinking.

Why Auto Stocks Are an Easy Short

I agree with the coments on this Blog. The arguments made by the author are those made 8 years ago about the industry. Yes, BMW can extract 333 horses from a 6 cylinder, but at 12MPG and an engine that costs twice as much, with poor reliability (read M3 crankshaft failures). The Ford V8 is an extremely reliable, low cost engine making it accessible to to anyone with 20g's in their pocket, versus 55K for the M3.
Also, he talks about pick-up trucks, but fails to mention that Toyota's Tundra base V6 engine gets worse fuel economy that Chevy's V8! I think it is about time this author, and maybe most of us reading these posts, that we start being more critical of the non-American competitors for fairness sake.
Finally kid, product development cycles for cars avergae around three years at best. Unlike your ipod or skateboard, changes to the product do not happen overnight. Like many have said before, check your facts first.